Jade

2000s TOP 10 RECAP #01 Roger Sanchez - 'Another Chance' (2001) #02 Gorillaz - 'Feel Good Inc.' (2005) #03 All Saints - 'Pure Shores' (2000) #04 Lady Gaga - 'Bad Romance' (2009) #05 Britney Spears - 'Toxic' (2003) #06 The Bravery - 'An Honest Mistake' (2005) #07 My Chemical Romance - 'Welcome to the Black Parade' (2006) #08 Tomcraft - 'Loneliness' (2002) #09 Sigur Rós - 'Hoppípolla' (2005) #10 Alizée - 'Moi… Lolita' (2000) Honourable mentions: 'Crazy' by Gnarls Barkley was the final song I cut, 'Hey Ya!' by OutKast, Eminem's 'Stan' and 'Move Your Feet' by Junior Senior also came very close, Girls Aloud's Tangled Up is my favourite ever girl group album so I wish I could've included something from that, although Sugababes were strong this decade too - both changed the face of early 2000s British pop music with their work alongside Xenomania, I already included plenty of chart toppers but 2000 housed many great dance ones in particular like Modjo, Sonique and Spiller, then there are some rockier faves like Green Day's 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' and Franz Ferdinand's 'Take Me Out' that I would've loved to include, also some more electronic fave songs like Basement Jaxx's 'Romeo', Burial's 'Archangel', The Chemical Brothers' 'Star Guitar', Daft Punk's 'Digital Love', Reflekt's 'Need to Feel Love' and Zero 7's 'Destiny', LCD Soundsystem and Röyksopp are also pretty fab in general, then Arcade Fire's Funeral and Björk's Vespertine are a couple more favourite albums of the decade that have sprung to mind, The White Stripes have become a big favourite - especially 'Fell In Love With A Girl', Arctic Monkeys were off to a flying start this decade, The Killers peaked with 'Somebody Told Me' for me, Amy Winehouse released an iconic album featuring my favourite 'You Know I'm No Good', BuzzFave Kylie had some cracking songs this decade too, with 'Slow' my #1 single of hers, Robyn's 'With Every Heartbeat' also springs to mind as another painful cut amongst much more... Time for another short break so see you at the weekend for the 2010s 🫶 I'd say the 2000s list was naturally the most commercial one yet (with 6 #1s!!) due to childhood nostalgia, but the 2010s and 2020s lists will contain a mix of both hits and less commercial stuff, as my taste evolved and I got better at searching outside of the mainstream, while still keeping an eye on the charts.

2000s #02 Gorillaz - 'Feel Good Inc.' (2005) #01 Roger Sanchez - 'Another Chance' (2001) Claiming the runner-up spot for the 2000s is virtual band Gorillaz! I first came across 'Feel Good Inc.' as part of the Now! 61 track list and it is the first song with an unconventional structure that I ever remember hearing, so that blew my mind as a kid. My love for it has only grown over the past two decades as I could appreciate its dark themes more. I got to witness 'Feel Good Inc.' live in 2017 when I attended their Humanz tour in Birmingham and the atmosphere was incredible during that song! 'Feel Good Inc.' was chosen as the lead single for the group's sophomore album Demon Days. Damon Albarn wrote the song while en route to performing at Coachella with Blur back in 2003. Hip-hop group De La Soul agreed to collaborate with Gorillaz as they were familiar with 'Clint Eastwood', which featured rapper Del the Funky Homosapien. They originally brainstormed rhymes for the track 'Kids With Guns', which would feature Neneh Cherry in its final form, but De La Soul member David Jolicoeur wanted to be part of the recording of 'Feel Good Inc.' after Albarn showed him the instrumental. He has a writing credit for the rap verse which he also performs, while fellow member Vincent Mason is behind the maniacal laugh throughout. De La Soul's Kelvin Mercer did not contribute to the song due to timing conflicts as he was working on material for his own group. Elsewhere, Danger Mouse is credited as a producer, a year before he would achieve a #1 hit as part of Gnarls Barkley. Gorillaz themselves, Jason Cox and James Dring also have additional production credits. The lyricism throughout is sharp and Orwellian in style as Albarn criticises consumerist society and fake happiness. 'Feel Good Inc.' is a controlling, soulless corporation and De La Soul perform as representatives, with lines like "watch me while I navigate" illustrating their power. Albarn, as his Gorillaz character 2-D, is unhappily stuck in this corporation's tower in a "melancholy town where we never smile". I love his vocal delivery as he really nails the feeling of forced happiness, with underlying anxiety present, particularly the slogan-esque "feel good" parts. His character in the music video feels trapped and watches on as fellow Gorillaz member Noodle instead experiences freedom on her floating island. Adult me appreciates these visuals so much more than when I was a kid as those windmill scenes are clearly an homage to the film Castle in the Sky, from Studio Ghibli, an animation studio I've already gushed about several times in blurbs for this countdown. This genre-bending track opens with a suitably menacing bassline while 2-D swiftly tells us the city's falling apart. The rap section is similarly haunting both lyrically and production-wise. Meanwhile, the song flips that mood on its head for the chorus, as Damon sings in a more wistful manner, with hopeful lines such as "love forever, love is free" contrasting the depression of a soulless, dystopian society. The production becomes more acoustic for this part to match that shift in mood. I adore how this song defies expectations both genre-wise and in terms of structure, what a triumph. 'Feel Good Inc.' settled for a #2 peak in the U.K. chart as Gorillaz were blocked by Akon's 'Lonely'. The song has truly stood the test of time, with over 1 billion YouTube views and 2.5 billion Spotify streams. 'Feel Good Inc'. even re-entered the top 40 for several weeks just last year. ... I'm sure this #1 was predictable for those of you who have put up with me for years. 'Another Chance' may not be the writing masterclass of tracks like 'Feel Good Inc.', since it's based on a loopy sample, but sometimes an emotional connection can trump a technical one in my affections and that's exactly the case here - although it's still well crafted anyway! This is an occasion where a song is enhanced by its music video. The visuals for 'Another Chance' are beautifully human and I've always felt a connection to them. A woman wanders the streets with a large plastic heart, a striking metaphorical image, that shrinks as she faces rejection. But it later grows again when hope re-enters the picture. Similarly, the one quality I've always liked about myself is that I have a big heart, but sadly this has been taken advantage of in the past on numerous occasions - moreso on a friendship level, than a romantic one. So the video always spoke to me in that way and made the song extra special by association. Those visuals seem to be well regarded in general and have even been referenced in other videos, with JADE's 'Plastic Box' coming to mind. 'Another Chance' is based around a sample of Toto's 'I Won't Hold You Back'. I've listened to the original on several occasions but the electronic presentation of Roger Sanchez's looped sample is a lot more to my personal taste. American DJ and producer Sanchez purchased several records from a shop in Montreal and one of them happened to be Toto's Toto IV album. He explored this record for sampling ideas and felt the "if I had another chance tonight" hook would work perfectly. I love the regretful, yearning words and vocals as they also pack an emotional punch much like the video. The production is also wonderful with its swirly house sound and that impactful double drum kick. This single was one of the first electronic songs I loved, in amongst my rather poppy taste as a kid and evidently still hits me hard to this day! 'Another Chance' was a U.K. #1 hit for one week and dislodged 'Lady Marmalade' by Christina Aguilera and co. from the top in the process. Congratulations to Roger Sanchez who joins The Ronettes, Kraftwerk, Visage and Depeche Mode in the hall of fame here now! Two more identities to reveal...

Unsurprising but a shame Gurriers have fallen out of the top 40 album mids today. Here’s hoping for a Fontaines-style ascension one day!

Ooh those trip-hop drums are right up my street feeling very well fed by Irish rock bands today after catching up on the new Gilla Band and Gurriers albums too

01 Boy Harsher - GET MEAN 02 Tinashe - Popstar 03 Phoebe Bridgers - Lost Weekend 04 Gurriers - Nobody's Coming To Save You 05 Olivia Rodrigo - you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love 06 Charli xcx - Music, Fashion, Film 07 Slayyyter - WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA 08 Adult DVD - Adult DVD 09 Miley Cyrus - Bass Persuades 10 Gilla Band - Pugnello

I think performances of her singing the song live on tour have been going viral!

Ooh we have a couple of new entries today! 88 GENER8ION, Yung Lean - STORM II (I've seen this all over social media since it was performed at the VMAs so not too surprised) 194 Faouzia - UNETHICAL (yay for a Spotify showing now after her official chart top 100 appearance recently)

01 Gary Numan - M.E. 02 Damien Rice - Amie 03 Roosevelt - Forget 04 Sam Fender - The Treadmill 05 Darin - Om du var min 06 Sam Smith - Lose You 07 Calvin Harris - Dollar Signs (feat. Tinashe) 08 Lewis Capaldi - Heavenly Kind of State of Mind 09 HRVY - Never Be Us 10 Tom Grennan - If Only Gary Numan quite the influence on early 2000s electronic music with the aforementioned borrowing of 'M.E.' for Basement Jaxx, 'Cars' being used on Armand Van Helden's 'Koochy' and of course 'Freak Like Me' by Sugababes lifting from Tubeway Army's 'Are 'Friends' Electric?'. Perfect choice for this round. Wow the Martin Garrix comparison for 'Dollar Signs' is spot on, that drop is very 'Animals'

01 Fontaines D.C. - Sundowner 02 M83 - Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun 03 iamamiwhoami - shadowshow 04 Sade - Pearls 05 Years & Years - Ties 06 Depeche Mode - Photographic 07 Ultravox - Accent on Youth 08 New Order - Love Vigilantes 09 Texas - Like Lovers (Holding On) 10 Bananarama - Bad For Me that M83 song was a stunning discovery <3 this turned out to be quite an unexpected order for me this week, based on how much I enjoy some of these acts in general, but some mentors pleasantly surprised with really strong song choices.

01 Jessie Ware - The Kill 🩸 02 Kate Bush - Reaching Out 03 MARINA - Teen Idle 04 Robyn - Time Machine 05 Zara Larsson - Blue Moon 06 Adele - Can I Get It 07 Leona Lewis - Outta My Head 08 Agnes - Loaded 09 Dido - Mary’s in India 10 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - New York City Lights that MARINA song took me straight back to browsing 'soft grunge' Tumblr blogs in around 2012-14, the nostalgia

I was aware you were a fan of The Clash and U2 but couldn't recall what you thought of 'The Fly' specifically, great #1 pick! I checked out Achtung Baby when going through early '90s Mercury Prize nominees and thought it was a genius album, with that standing out as a highlight. I think my own top 10 would look like this: 01 Enigma - Sadeness Part I 02 The KLF - 3AM Eternal (feat. The Children Of The Revolution) 03 Queen - Innuendo 04 U2 - The Fly 05 The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go 06 Queen - These Are The Days Of Our Lives 07 Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You 08 Michael Jackson - Black Or White 09 Vic Reeves and The Wonder Stuff - Dizzy 10 George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me Thanks Jim for doing this! Much taste on display and I enjoyed reading your great commentaries.

Round 1: 27 (didn't get: Haircut 100, Bread, Nick Kamen) Round 2: 36 (didn't get: Dire Straits) 3-in-10: 1 (Here I Go Again) Great to hear a clip of 'That's Entertainment' today

Switching to from Kate to Katie now

I have a very clear cut favourite and least favourite here voted for Kelly first of course

'An Honest Mistake' is my sixth favourite song of the entire 2000s so an easy vote for me here 'Too Close' is great as well so unlucky to be up against The Bravery.

Oh my, I listened to Grimmy before school for a while back in the day but that had definitely escaped my memory Glad you're also a fan of 'Pure Shores'! All Saints were another brilliant match for William Orbit much like Madonna. Yay for a snap Gaga favourite then 🤩 it's one of those songs that's massively popular on the forum, so always one to watch in rates but I definitely get the hype. 'Black Coffee' is another 10/10 tbh so can't knock that choice! I love the way it builds to that explosive outro. 'Freak Like Me' is also brilliant, my favourite Sugababes single and received my top marks in the Pop Princesses 2 rate <3 I suppose it has sort of appeared through its Tubeway Army source material so far at least --- Thanks again for the comments <3 the noughties concludes this evening!

Even more instantly obsessed with this collab than expected omg

2000s #04 Lady Gaga - 'Bad Romance' (2009) #03 All Saints - 'Pure Shores' (2000) Next are two chart toppers from the opposite ends of the decade and both pretty BuzzJack-friendly ones at that! I first got into Gaga after being mesmerised by her in the 'Poker Face' music video, on top of falling for the song's catchy chorus. I swiftly bought a copy of The Fame and a big poster of Gaga as 11-year-old me had found her new idol. I rinsed this album, so it still holds a lot of nostalgic value, but I don't think it's held up as well as most of the new additions to The Fame Monster. Gaga's infectious melodies were still present, but there was a darker depth to the lyrics and production on this reissue that continues to appeal to me a lot to this day. 'Bad Romance' was chosen to lead The Fame Monster towards the end of 2009. I recall a demo version of the song leaking first but then Gaga premiered the song properly at Alexander McQueen's Paris Fashion Week show, just months before he tragically died. I was instantly blown away by this single and my awe has never waned. It took me a while to hear this song live but I finally ticked off that experience in 2022, when I watched Gaga's Chromatica Ball tour at Tottenham Hotspur stadium. I remember thinking I'd attend the tour around the time I turned 23 (the same age she was when 'Bad Romance' dropped) but it was actually closer to my 25th birthday in the end, due to Covid. The concert turned out to be a more stressful experience than anticipated (I got a banging headache after unexpected transport stress on the way there) but it was still surreal to hear 'Bad Romance' live for the first time, what a talent. 'Bad Romance' was written by Gaga herself alongside RedOne, who produced the record. The song is about falling in love with your best friend hence the "I want your love, I don't wanna be friends" lyric. However, Gaga said she was generally attracted to dangerous relationships, so it can be applied more broadly too. She seems a lot more settled these days with her husband (and now baby!) but the Gaga of 2009, who had experienced many tumultuous relationships in the past, details her feelings through a macabre lens. The pretty gruesome "I want your ugly, I want your disease" opener to the first verse quickly told us she'd be going down a much darker path for The Fame Monster. She even later uses the works of Alfred Hitchcock to express her cravings for a disturbed, wild lover with: "I want your psycho, your vertigo stick, want you in my rear window, baby you're sick". This song-writing feels like a step up creatively while not sacrificing her earworm hooks all the same. I love the drama of the French bridge as well which Gaga sells the hell out of vocally. She generally achieves a pleasing contrast throughout, with her lower register tackling the verses and a more powerful, soaring vocal taking over for the chorus. The layered production of 'Bad Romance' is also very appealing to me, especially the pounding techno-influenced synths and punchy percussion. Overall it's a pretty aggressive sound that only adds to the thrill of the obsessive lyrics. Gaga was inspired by German electronic music while on a trip there and challenged herself to make an experimental pop record, which resulted in the sound of 'Bad Romance'. The music video is also a work of art and fittingly twisted. Gaga is kidnapped and sold to Russian mobsters but she later scorches the highest bidder, visually bringing "I'm a free bitch" to life. I love the feminist metaphor in the storyline and how visually striking every scene looks. I particularly appreciate the Kubrick-esque composition of the video as a big fan of his movies. 'Bad Romance' climbed to #1 in the U.K. during its 7th week of charting but famously stalled at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Gaga was blocked by Kesha's 'Tik Tok' and the Jay-Z/Alicia Keys collaboration 'Empire State of Mind' over there. ... Trainspotting isn't the only Danny Boyle film relevant to the countdown as All Saints' song for The Beach has a special place in my heart too! 'Pure Shores' is my favourite girl-group song since 'Be My Baby' although All Saints' fellow 2000 chart-topper 'Black Coffee' is right up there too. Pete Tong, who was All Saints' A&R man at the time, wanted the girls to be on the soundtrack for The Beach. However, Danny Boyle was not keen to have a pop group tied to his film. Tong managed to convince him after getting William Orbit on board for production duties. Orbit previously featured in my countdown as the producer for Madonna's 'Frozen', so scores another behind-the-scenes podium position. The lyrics were written by All Saints member Shaznay Lewis, who was shown a 40 second clip from a then unfinished The Beach and advised to write around it. Lewis loved the challenge of this rather than having to write about her own experiences. She composed the initial lyrics on a plane but then lost them, so some were rewritten. Lewis' lyrics detail a craving for a utopian place which is found later in the song, much like the beach setting in the movie. I love the escapism of her words and always reach for them when I'm on holiday. Vocally, it's Melanie Blatt who opens the song, but Lewis later joins her and the Appleton sisters also provide backing vocals. They all sound ethereal and harmonise beautifully together. William Orbit's production is of course a huge star of the show too. He creates a textured, ambient soundscape with synth delays, arpeggiated and reverberated guitars, electronic percussion and some atmospheric, filtered sound effects too - such as the noises that sound like whales. All of these components come together perfectly to create a blissful underwater world. I also appreciate the briefly heightened sound of the middle 8, as if they're cutting through the water. 'Pure Shores' had strong opening sales of 198k at the top of the chart and went on to become the second best selling single of 2000, only behind Bob The Builder's 'Can We Fix It?'. All Saints were knocked off the top by another William Orbit production when Madonna's 'American Pie' cover got there. RIP to such a unique, talented producer. 🕊️

Ooh a rare Fontaines song that doesn’t have Grian lead vocals but a great pick nevertheless 🥰

Ooh that Gary song was sampled in ‘Where’s Your Head At’ by Basement Jaxx so that’s a smart pick!

That is another wonderful Jessie Ware pick 🤍

The Tweenies didn’t quite manage it but ‘Number 1’ by Tinchy Stryder/N-Dubz got there!

Voted for the wonderful 'bad idea' as my favourite ...and 'six thirty' in the other poll which is probably the least memorable positions song for me

October line-up is out! 10th: Danny Dyer / Sasha Keable 17th: James Norton / The Streets 24th: Cynthia Erivo / Blossoms

Both of these are good but I went for LeAnn too!